THE EUROPEAN UNION Parliament and EU states reached a deal this morning to almost double the share of renewables in the continent’s overall energy consumption by 2030.
The provisional political agreement seeks to raise the share of renewable energy to 42.5%, from 22% today, according to a Council of the EU statement.
The EU has set an ambitious target to become a “climate neutral” economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
A spokesperson for Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe told The Journal that it was a “good result” for renewable energy and that he supported “the goals of the Renewable Energy Directive.”
“By cutting the red tape, the Renewable Energy Directive will speed up the rollout of renewables across the EU. Unfortunately, the targets agreed last night do not align with what science tells us we need to do.
Adding, “However, we are confident that Ireland can not only achieve these targets, but actually exceed them to an extent that we can sell renewables to other EU countries to help them meet the new RED targets.”
The proposal to revise the renewable energy directive, along with other proposals, tackles the energy aspects of the EU’s climate transition under the ‘Fit for 55’ package.
The Commission presented the ‘Fit for 55’ package in 2021. This package aims to align the EU’s climate and energy legislative framework with its 2050 climate neutrality objective and with its objective of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
The move also comes as the EU has sought to slash its dependence on Russian fossil fuels after Moscow cut gas supplies last year and the bloc placed bans on seaborne crude and other petroleum products from the country.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that global warming has caused an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.
The world has already warmed by about 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times due to human activity, and the UN IPCC has warned that this is likely to pass 1.5C between 2030 and 2052 if the increase continues at the current rate.
It is not only temperature that has changed: there have also been changes in rainfall, declines in snow and ice, and increases in sea-level as the oceans heat up.
Additional Reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill
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